Committe Role: Events Officer

·         Researching current displays, exhibitions, and new projects, as well as keeping abreast of current developments and changes in the sector, to source event opportunities.

·         Consulting with the committee panel and using previous events feedback (based on word of mouth and popularity of the event only, no written feedback) to establish what events members are looking for, and what they would benefit from most. As there are fewer and fewer people working in the sector and workloads are increasing, it is getting harder to find partners to host study days/workshops.

·         Contacting potential partners in museums and universities etc and scoping event possibilities.

·         Corresponding with partners to develop the events such as exhibition tours and study days/workshops. Then liaising with them on content, scheduling, visit information etc. As there are fewer and fewer people working in the sector and workloads are increasing, it is getting harder to find partners to host study days/workshops.

·         Producing text and sourcing images (includes obtaining image usage permission), to advertise the event.

·         Sending events info to the web officer and sending out all member email invite.

·         Corresponding with members who are interesting in and then those attending the event,

and creating a spreadsheet with names and contact details.

·         Putting together and sending out additional visit information.

·         Sending out all member email reminder about the event a few weeks before.

·         Meeting attendees and host staff at the venue and managing the event on the day with the host staff.

·         Organising an attendee to produce an event blog.

 

Committee Role: Treasurer

 Duties:

• -          Annually, invoice Institutional members and maintain database of correct addresses.
• -          Annually, complete accounts for submission to Charity Commission.
• -          Annually, have oversight of and manage conference budget.
• -          Annually, collect outstanding payments at conference.
• -          Quarterly, for each committee meeting, create report and breakdown of accounts since last meeting.
• -          Monthly, check Paypal account and transfer money to bank account
• -          Weekly, check emails and post – pay in any cheques to bank,manage invoices and receipts for payments and reimbursements

Committe Role: Web Officer

 

MEG Web Officer

Museum Ethnographers Group are a UK-based, but international collective, whose members include:

Museum professionals, academics, researchers & students, artists, activists & enthusiasts

Originally established in 1975, MEG has a long history of bringing individuals, institutions and museum collections together to build knowledge and understanding.

MEG believes that our museums have an important role to play in building understanding, foregrounding respect, and caring for each other. However, this is predicated on institutional and practical changes that we all have a responsibility to work towards. We cannot do this work alone and so we use our platform to support each other, share best practice, and collectively work towards a better future.

MEG is an active interface between museum professionals and university-based researchers and is recognised in the UK museums sector as a key subject-specialist network.

MEG is a volunteer run organisation and we are currently looking for Web Officer to join our Committee from April 2023.

-          Chair

-          Secretary

-          Treasurer

-          Individual Membership Officer

-          Journal Membership Officer

-          Digital/Web co-ordinator

-          Events Officer

As website officer you will be in charge of MEG’s online presence. Main responsibilities include:

·         Maintain and update the website using the Joomla platform (likely to change platform soon)

·         Attend quarterly committee meetings and the annual AGM

·         Create a quarterly report which includes feedback from the co-opted members who are not responsible for reporting

·         Update the MEG blog with job adverts, announcements, reviews and blogs using blogger (likely to change platform soon)

·         Find people to contribute blogs and provide editorial support to them

·         Maintain and update MEG’s profile on the SSN website

·         Liaise with and support the co-opted Newsletter officer, in particular organise payment and reclaim funds for Campaign Monitor and assist in finding material for the newsletter.

·         Liaise with and support the co-opted Social Media officer as appropriate

·         Liaise with the chair and an appointed website developer in delivering MEG’s digital development project. This is likely to include:

-            Confirming a new structure for the website

-            Writing or finding others to write text for the website

-            Learning a new editing system

-            Liaising with other MEG committee members and the Early Careers Subcommittee to ensure their needs are being met by the new website. #

-            Choose and implement a new email account system.

 

The role would suit someone who:

-            Has some experience of updating digital platforms and is keen to develop their digital skills.

-            Has an emerging or established career within the museums sector, and experience working with/understands the issues facing cultural collections.

-            Is keen to participate in conversations about the questions facing the sector and share them with others online.

 

Early Career Development Event at Kew Gardens

 Hosted by Kew Gardens for the MEG Early Career Subcommittee

3 October 2022

On 3 October, Kew Gardens kindly hosted a group of early career museum practitioners and researchers for a day of talks and tours centred around what it means to work in museums today. Speakers included members of staff from Kew as well as several other institutions. This was a great opportunity to gain insights into the diverse range of work that takes place in museums and to meet new people at a similar stage in their careers.

The day began with a warm welcome from Kew’s Mark Nesbitt (Senior Research Leader) and Erin Messenger (Collections Manager), who introduced us to the Economic Botany Collection. This was followed by a tour of the collection, led by Erin and Ben Hill (Accreditation Manager). The collection contains over 100,000 objects that are all derived from plants. One of the things that makes the collection so special is the fact that it contains materials that relate to the different stages of production, from the plant specimen onwards. For me, highlights of the tour included a set of poison arrows and some (very) Victorian mourning jewelry made entirely of rubber. The collection really highlights the integral relationship between plants and culture.

Later in the day, we had the pleasure of visiting Kew’s community allotment. Jane Roger (Learning Coordinator) introduced us to the remarkable community engagement and learning work that she leads here. This includes working with local refuges, prisons, and homeless charities and making the space a truly accessible one. The beautiful garden itself really reflected the welcoming environment that Jane has fostered, and I’d encourage those interested in community engagement to learn more about this project.

The day included a series of talks from museum professionals and researchers who shared their own career paths and gave an insight into the nature of their current roles. Kew’s Ben Hill introduced us to collections management, Imogen Clarke (The Science Museum) introduced us to museum interpretation and Adam Koszary (The Audience Agency) shared their insights on social media. PhD researcher Kim Walker (Royal Holloway University/Kew) presented their work on Cinchona and offered helpful advice on the merits of undertaking a PhD in partnership with museums. Thank you to the speakers, who were all supportive and generous with their time and advice.

Thank you again to the team at Kew for a brilliant event. This was the first event to be held under the auspices of MEG’s Early Career Subcommittee. It was such an enjoyable and enriching day and a great opportunity to meet new people and hear about their work. If you are an early career practitioner or researcher and would like to be more involved in developing events like this, do contact me on (a.potts@brighton.ac.uk) to learn more about joining the subcommittee. If you are interested in organising or hosting an event like this one at your own institution, particularly beyond London, do also let me know.